Sarpy Chiropractic Blog

When you damage or irritate a joint in your spine, either due to a traumatic injury or long term postural stress, you will end up with pain, as many of you can attest! But why do we get pain? Are we knocking a bone out of place? What actually happens is a number of things. The damaged joint essentially becomes "stuck" and it loses its motion. It becomes inflamed , as do the tissues around the joint. This then irritates the spinal nerves which cause a lot of pain , and the surrounding muscles go into spasm . This often starts out as a small thing, but the longer the joint and surrounding tissues remained stuck and damaged, the more the nerves are affected which then leads to compensation in other areas of the spine and body, and then more damage, inflammation and spasm. The cycle becomes endless. Why is this such a bad thing? Besides the pain and loss of motion, these disturbances to the nervous system can affect anything that our nerves talk to, which is every...

You have been mislead with some very serious myths when it comes to back pain and how to manage it! The first myth is that as soon as you have pain you should pop some pain relievers. Sometimes, yes, you will experience pain that is so severe that you may want to reach for the pain medications. If this is the case make sure it is for very short term use only, as study after study continues to prove that relying on pain medication for your back pain is one of the worst options you can pursue.  But remember, pain is just an alarm telling your brain that something is wrong . So if you go and medicate to numb the pain, you run the risk of making the problem much worse and creating far more damage than you already have. The next myth is that as soon as you experience back pain you should stop exercising and rest. This may be the most damaging advice out there. The worst thing you can do when it comes to back pain is stop moving altogether and just sit or rest in b...

This week we welcome a guest poster!  Sarah, the owner of Elevate Cycling & Fitness Studio shares why spin classes are so popular and the great benefits you can experience by jumping on a stationary bike and pushing yourself through an intense workout! Dim lights, music loud, letting the beat of the music guide your feet as you climb, sprint, press, and tap it back. Gone are the days of just sprinting and climbing, we incorporate a full body workout.  We want you to not only torch calories, but also dance on the bike! I am a true believer in taking time for yourself.  I believe that when we take these moments for ourselves we can not only become a better person, but it allows us to be a better friend, partner, spouse, mother, etc.  And spin can provide a place for you to come and get motivated, and get those endorphins flowing because when we feel good, we do good! Here are my top 6 reasons why you should love spin class: You will get lost ...

We all lead busy lives - too busy for most of us! And so the health choices we make are often not the best because there just isn't enough hours in the day. And, for at least 80% of us this means that we don't get anywhere near enough exercise, mainly because, well, it just takes too long to fit it in to our schedule. Well here is the good news. All the latest research is showing that it is the QUALITY and not the QUANTITY of exercise that is important. What do we mean by this? How intensely you work out is far more important than how long you exercise for. This is where High Intensity Interval Training (HITT) comes into play. HITT involves very short bursts of all-out exercise where you are running/cycling etc as hard as you can with longer periods in between of slower exercise to allow your heart rate to settle back closer to normal again before you start the next short burst of intense activity. One recent study compared a group of males exercising moderately...